These days most professional web designers will make sure that any websites they create accommodate people with various disabilities, including those who are blind or who have problems with their vision. It seems though that hardware manufacturers have a long way to go in ensuring the devices they create are accessible and useful.
Of the 18 million Americans with diabetes, for example, about 5 million are visually impaired.
But when Mark Uslan, director of the Huntington facility and his lab volunteers tested 30 brands of blood glucose monitors, they found only one that was usable — but it was 10 times larger and 10 times more expensive than the other models tested.
Now one research centre is looking at ways to combine modern technology to help people see better.
Levar Burton, who played blind Lt. Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is lending his name and star power to fund-raising efforts for the [Levar Burton Vision Enhancement Technology] Center.
Though he’s not blind, he wore a visor on the set that impaired his vision by 75 percent for nearly 12 hours a day.
The center and its partners will use off-the-shelf technologies like lasers, magnifiers and global positioning systems to develop, test and market products to help people see better. The American Foundation for the Blind, which runs a technology evaluation center in Huntington, W.Va., will advise the scientists.
[From The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Technology. Via MyAppleMenu.]
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